Valve Amplifier Made in England by EAR Yoshino. High End audio hifi including Power Amps, Vacuum Tube Photostage Pre-amps, DACs, CD players, Vinyl turntables. This instruction manual has been written to help you get the best from your new EAR amplifier. The EAR 864 has been designed to meet a wide variety of needs. Winner of The Absolute Sound Golden EAR Award! Push-pull stereo integrated amplifier. 50 Watts per channel into 4, 8, or 16 Ohms. Uses 6L6, EL34, or KT66 output. Switchable moving magnet/moving coil phono preamplifier. Available in deluxe chrome or economical “black box” versions.

Thanks Libor: The threads are interesting, but I don't intend to mod my EAR at this stage. Right now I am running it directly into my MF 308 amp through the second set of inputs. Truthfully, I find the EAR rather bright. It also produces more hiss through the left channel than the right. For these reasons, I am wondering about tubes.

I am going to try a 12AU7 in stage one of the EAR. Hopefully it will warm up the sound. If not, I will run the EAR into the Aux input of my MF 308 pre. I hope to hear from others about the EAR.

This thread (my thread) is open to ANY and ALL comments about this phono stage. Cheers, Loyd. I tried a couple of things. First, I changed the left channel tube. Presto The channels are balanced, (slight) hiss and all. I also substituted one of my precious NOS Amperex 7316 Bugle Boys (12AU7) into stage one of the EAR. This tamed some of the harshness.

I am expecting even more sonic improvement over time as the Bugle Boy breaks in. I run similar tubes (matched D-getter version) in my Cary 308T CD player. I'm still wondering what will change if I run the EAR into my Musical Fidelity pre amp Cheers, Loyd. I have been checking into tubes the last while. I bought an NOS 12AU7 Blackburn Mullard to try out in the step-up stage of the EAR. It won't arrive for about two weeks.

I have also been checking into the 12BH7's. I found this one Kerry. Silent Hill Downpour Soundtrack Free Download. Is it what you meant by 'try a 12BH7 in place of the 12AU7. Warmest of these to my ears are the grey, 60's RCA round getters': For Sale '1960's RCA 12BH7-A tubes-G. I would appreciate some direction before purchasing the tube.

The 12AX7's are a bit of a mystery. These tubes are in the gain section of the EAR which requires low noise, low microphonics tubes.

I'm not sure how to calculate the voltage gain given the few specs in the users manual. Can anyone help me? One tube I discovered is the Brimar Ribbed Plate platinum (1962). Does anyone know this tube? According to some articles I have read about the EAR, changing the gain tubes will not make much difference. Apparently, I would be better off investing in a good power cord and some clean energy. Do other EAR owners feel the same?

Cheers, Loyd. The12AX7 is a 60% gain over the Au7. I like what ElectroHarmonix does with this tube, very high gain, not anti-microphonic ( I did not damp them in my phono preamp). Thanks for that info, yournamehere. Originally, I had a 12AX7 in the step-up stage of the EAR. I found the sound far too loud and harsh.

So I replaced this tube with the 12AU7. I'm pleased with the initial outcome. The tone has improved and will continue to improve over time (as was my experience when I substituted the same Amperex tube into my Cary CD player). My main complaint right now is that the EAR sounds too much like an excellent CD player. The sound is clean and detailed, but not particularly musical. The set-up I had running through the phono stage of the MF 308 pre-amp had raunchy (almost live)edges that I enjoyed, especially with jazz and blues.

My guess is that as I play with the EAR, I will eventually find the sound I want. If not, I will begin to mod it. I must, however, be patient. The Amperex tube will take many hours to break in.

Cheers, Loyd.